Bengaluru: Many senior BJP leaders were upset with the party for nominating Shantha Kumari as new mayor of the city. The leaders were upset on two counts. One, she is not an original BJP worker and two, she was tainted and therefore, this would send a wrong signal. Party leaders were upset with Bangalore South MP Ananth Kumar and former deputy chief minister R. Ashok, who took the final call on this matter.
Sources in the party said that she was a deputy mayor when she was in the Congress party and she had joined the BJP in 2010 and became a councillor. “During the parliament polls, V. Somanna, as part of the deal he struck with Mr Ananth Kumar, had requested the latter to make his nominee, particularly Shantha Kumari the Mayor. Mr Kumar had positively assured Mr Somanna then, and that promise was fulfilled now,” a senior leader told Deccan Chronicle.
“She was never a party worker. Perhaps to build bridges with chief minister, Siddaramaiah, Shanthakumari a Kuruba leader was selected over loyal BJP workers,” an agitated leader said. Her elevation would send wrong signals because Lokayukta had raided her residence and office sometime back. “Selecting a tainted corporator as a mayor for Bengaluru city would give a wrong impression to public. “It was unfortunate that the state BJP president Pralhad Joshi concurred with the choice made by Mr Kumar and Mr Ashok,” sources added.
